Aidou didn’t believe he was deserving of her thanks, but what could he say? The best response was silence.
Although they had retreated from the precipice of violence, he still felt a substantial amount of uncertainty over what had brought them to this point to begin with. Blood was at the heart of everything. But the truth remained: he didn’t want to take blood from her even though he needed it. Rationally, if she was indeed willing to leave the matter be, feeding from her this one time was better than wasting more time finding someone else after they parted. But something in him continued to resist the idea.
She was not someone he wanted to make a habit of biting, and she was emotionally fragile now, whether or not she comprehended it herself. Preying on the weak was, by itself, a reprehensible concept…
“You don’t have to apologize for that. You’re… emotional.”
The Institute had that effect on people, himself included. Could anyone really stay detached in the face of this nightmare? Even Aigis, who claimed to be more machine than person, couldn’t escape the grey moral landscape they were imprisoned in. Black and white was simple, but like most things, Landel had taken it away. What was left was this… permanent discomfort. For Aidou, here and now, it was navigating the boundaries between vampire and other that bogged him down. For her, it was the fear of failing her friends that bothered her. And doing what she could, whatever that meant in the Institute’s terms.
“Don’t spend time worrying you haven’t found a solution, either. Landel’s made sure there isn’t one. That’s just how it is. But… do you actually mean you won’t stop me obtaining blood when I have to?”
Hunting was an accurate term for it. However, being a kept pet was also an accurate term for what the alternative would be: him sticking to one person for the foreseeable future. Who exactly would be the “pet” in that scenario was up for debate, though. At any rate, it was an attachment Aidou wanted to avoid if possible.
Re: [F10]
Although they had retreated from the precipice of violence, he still felt a substantial amount of uncertainty over what had brought them to this point to begin with. Blood was at the heart of everything. But the truth remained: he didn’t want to take blood from her even though he needed it. Rationally, if she was indeed willing to leave the matter be, feeding from her this one time was better than wasting more time finding someone else after they parted. But something in him continued to resist the idea.
She was not someone he wanted to make a habit of biting, and she was emotionally fragile now, whether or not she comprehended it herself. Preying on the weak was, by itself, a reprehensible concept…
“You don’t have to apologize for that. You’re… emotional.”
The Institute had that effect on people, himself included. Could anyone really stay detached in the face of this nightmare? Even Aigis, who claimed to be more machine than person, couldn’t escape the grey moral landscape they were imprisoned in. Black and white was simple, but like most things, Landel had taken it away. What was left was this… permanent discomfort. For Aidou, here and now, it was navigating the boundaries between vampire and other that bogged him down. For her, it was the fear of failing her friends that bothered her. And doing what she could, whatever that meant in the Institute’s terms.
“Don’t spend time worrying you haven’t found a solution, either. Landel’s made sure there isn’t one. That’s just how it is. But… do you actually mean you won’t stop me obtaining blood when I have to?”
Hunting was an accurate term for it. However, being a kept pet was also an accurate term for what the alternative would be: him sticking to one person for the foreseeable future. Who exactly would be the “pet” in that scenario was up for debate, though. At any rate, it was an attachment Aidou wanted to avoid if possible.